About Diastasis Recti

[jeaninmt]

Hello there! I dont know if this is the right place to ask because I am 8 months PP, but I wanted to ask here just in case ^^

I was very lucky to have a really good recovery after giving birth to my twins, even my old pants fit, since 3 months PP I have tried to workout 3-4 times a week but I workout 2 days, 3 days at most.

I have seen a lot of videos about Diastasis Recti but 100% of them just talk or show what excercises you should do, what you shouldnt, etc, but they dont talk about how often to do them, and how long you have to do them before starting working out core as normal, which is what I want to know.

My belly looks good but I think I have this because when I do some stretching I can see how it forms like a hmmm how can I say this in english.....like a bulge? to the outside. If I touch the separation, it feels like 1 finger separation above my belly button, which I think is some type of DR, but I am not sure.

Now that I have more time I wanted to start working out regularly and also including Diastasis Recti excercises, but I want to know how often and for how long to do them? I guess until it heals I should do this and not start with core yet, I also dont know if it is too late :O

Thanks in advance! and happy pregnancy!

 

[worthycause4christ]

@jeaninmt A 1-finger separation honestly doesn’t sound too bad. In my experience, I’ve seen most postpartum women return to a 1-2 finger separation which I’d qualify as largely ‘normal’.

More important than the presence of any separation, is HOW the abs function. Can you do ab exercises without any excessive coning or bulging, holding your breath, or compromising form? It’s possible to have diastasis recti, but still do conventional core exercises if you’re able to load well across the abdomen without compensating poorly in any way. Hopefully this make sense? You can find a diastasis recti repair series here which provides a little guidance on progressions. Might be helpful!

 

[jeaninmt]

@worthycause4christ I had to look for coning because I didnt know what it meant, and that it exactly what happens when I do conventional core exercises, I think I can do it but it kind of feels forced, I dont know how to explain.

I will take a look at those series, thank you!

 

[heartaflame4yahshua]

@jeaninmt Congrats on the twins!

As far as core work, I do DR safe ab work twice a week. For me, it includes deep core/TVA work (10 mins) and then DR safe but traditional ab work as well (10 mins). My other lifting days, I definitely spend 5 minutes of my warm up focused on breathing and TVA. This has really worked well for me.

 

[jeaninmt]

@heartaflame4yahshua Thank you really much!

 

[adam318]

@jeaninmt Same! I am 11 months ppl. I’ve been lifting since 2019, lifted during my pregnancy up until day before birth. Once I got the clearance I went right back into it. I only can assume I might have DR because when I do sit ups I see slight coning in the middle of my belly. Also, lower belly has some protrusion/buldging. Like bloated more often than not… I am a very active person and have been for a long time. I dedicate about 15 minutes to my core twice a week but I am going to up it because I want to fix this. I made an apt next month for a pelvic floor therapist to diagnose me. I’ve tried testing myself, I “think” it’s only 1 finger wide and doesn’t seem to be deep whatsoever but, again, I am no doctor so I’m not sure I’m doing it properly.